Texas Senator Ted Cruz had a crude image in mind while thinking about Morning Joe anchors Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski, who—after spending years accusing Donald Trump of being a fascist and comparing him to Hitler—jointly travelled to Mar-a-Lago to meet with the president-elect last month.
During a discussion on Fox News Monday night about the MSNBC duo’s trip, Cruz joked that their stunning reversal was less akin to bending the knee than it was to a full-blown sexual favor.
“You have Joe and Mika go to Mar-a-Lago to kiss the ring and suck up to Donald Trump, you can’t make that story up,” said Fox’s Sean Hannity.
“Well, I’m not even sure they were kissing the ring. I think they were kissing a little bit lower than that,” Cruz tossed back.
Hannity: You have Joe and Mika going to Mar-a-Lago to kiss the ring and suck up to Donald Trump,
— Acyn (@Acyn) December 3, 2024
Cruz: I’m not even sure they were kissing the ring. I thank they were kissing a little bit lower than that. pic.twitter.com/uisOaYNOKU
Scarborough and Brzezinski’s decision to visit Trump has drawn widespread condemnation, including from their core audience. Viewership for their show plummeted by 12 percent after the pair revealed on air that they had made the trek to Trump’s Florida estate, according to Nielsen. The MSNBC journalists cited a growing national disinterest with Trump’s misconduct—including election denialism and January 6—as the reason to “do something different” and meet with the MAGA leader. Trump, for his part, said the meeting went well.
But even on-air analysts at the network couldn’t hold their tongue on the issue. Former lawmaker and MSNBC analyst David Jolly slammed the pair on Tuesday, torching them for wavering on their values now that Trump is set to imminently return to the White House.
“We didn’t wake up after the election and think, I’m upset because I was wrong. We’re upset because we know we’re right, but we’re on the losing side of this battle. And so what does that mean for a responsible media, for a responsible electorate, for a responsible Democratic Party in this environment?” Jolly said. “Don’t just say we’re going to give equity to Donald Trump, which some people are doing in the Democratic Party, in media, among the electorate.”
Cruz is, however, possibly the last person who should be making jokes about spineless behavior. The unpopular Texan has backtracked several times on his own criticisms of Trump, enthusiastically endorsing him even after Trump called Cruz’s wife ugly and mocked his height on the national stage, claiming to millions of Americans that Cruz needed heels in order to reach the podium.
